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“Hey, Taako?”
Taako, who had seen him coming in the mirror, didn't even pause applying his mascara. “Sup?”
Magnus hovered awkwardly in the door for a few seconds before stepping inside. “Can I ask you a, a personal question?”
Taako paused. He froze for just a second before picking up with the brush again, movements mechanical. “Depends what kind of personal you mean, Magnus.”
Magnus took a deep breath. “You're nonbinary, right?”
Taako immediately relaxed. He laughed and put down the mascara. “That's what this is about? Thank Oghma, I thought we were about to get into sob story territory.” He turned around and leaned backwards against the vanity. “So?” He said, spreading his arms out wide, “whaddya wanna know?”
Magnus rubbed the back of his head. “How did you… know? What does it feel like?”
Taako shrugged. “I just don't like boxes, m’dude. I figured out pretty early on that boys weren't supposed to do the shit I do, so I said fuck it, guess I'm not a boy then! Which uh, I guess isn't the best reason to start identifying as enby, but I was like twelve back then and I’m still not a boy, so.” He shrugged. “Why'd you wanna know, anyway?”
“It's, uh, it's nothing really, I was just curious-”
Magnus turned to leave, and but Taako caught him by the collar.
“Not so fast, kemosabe!” Taako said, holding back 200-odd pounds of Ruff Boi with a single manicured hand. “You don't get to ask me for intimate life details and then bail! Taako needs a little quid pro quo!”
Magnus turned around, and Taako puffed up in triumph, but immediately softened when he saw how nervous he looked.
“Hey.” Taako said, letting go of Magnus’s collar. “I know I don't act all that friendly, but I'm not a total monster. You can tell me about… stuff.”
Magnus sighed. He shut the door, and sat down on Taako's bed. Taako followed suite.
Magnus looked down at the floor and twiddled his thumbs. “I'm not… sure I'm a guy?”
A beat of silence.
“Which is weird, right? Cause I spent a lot of time and money trying to make people see me as one.” He gestured to his chest. “And it was okay, for a while? It's better than being a girl, but…” he rubbed his hands down his face. “I’m starting to hate being a guy too, and I know if I give it time it’s gonna get just as bad as it was before, and I’m scared.”
Taako let out a long breath. “Well… it sure sounds like you're nonbinary.”
Magnus groaned. “But what if I'm not? My dad always said it was just a phase, what if he's right and I never should have transitioned in the first place?”
“First of all, nobody who says shit like that is ever worth listening to, ever.” Taako snarled. Magnus couldn’t help but smile.
“Second of all, let me drop a theory on you; you’ve always been enby, and identifying as a dude felt good for a while because it got you as far away from your assigned gender as you felt you could get. It worked for a while, but it was just a bandaid, and now the euphoria from leaving your agab behind is starting to wear off. Sound about right?”
Magnus blinked. “Yeah, that… that makes sense, actually. Where did you get all that from?”
“I did the same thing.” Taako grinned. “I identified as a girl for like, a hot minute before I realized it wasn’t me. It didn’t work out long term, but it was sure as fuck better than being a boy.”
Magnus nodded slowly. “So… what do I do now?”
Taako shrugged. “Experiment. Try new labels, new pronouns. New names if you want. I can switch however many times you need, I got a lot of practice back when Lup thought she was genderfluid.”
“Okay.” Magnus took a deep breath, and smiled. “Okay.” He stood up. “Thanks, Taako.”
“No problem, Mags. Now shoo, I only got one eye done before you came in and I look ridiculous.”
Magnus laughed, and walked out. He felt lighter, as if he’d been carrying around a bag of sand and he’d just poured it all out in Taako’s room. He didn’t know everything about himself yet, but he had someplace to start.
.
104 years later…
.
Taako walked into the tavern and looked around. The ad for the job had said it was a team, but there was no word on how he would recognize his teammates. He scanned the crowd for a minute before realizing it was stupid, and resorted to shouting; “WHO’S HERE FOR THE ROCKSEEKER JOB?”
The tavern fell silent for a moment. Then a hand shot up somewhere in the back of the room.
The chatter picked back up as Taako picked his way across the room. When he finally got where he was going, Taako found himself looking at the scruffiest teddy bear of a person he’d ever seen. Xe was big and well muscled, but had a softness about xem that suggested xe loved a good hug. Xe had scruffy auburn hair and thick sideburns of the same color. Xe wore a single pauldron, and had an axe strapped to xyr back. Good, Taako thought, a fighter; I wouldn’t mind letting a hunk like that fight my battles for me.
Taako introduced himself, and the fighter offered xyr name (Magnus) and a drink (which Taako accepted.)
As soon as it hit Taako’s lips, his eyebrows went up. It was delicious. He hummed in approval. “Y’know, we might just get along; I appreciate someone who knows xyr cocktails.”
Magnus stared, eyes wide. “How… did you know my pronouns? I didn’t even tell you.”
“Uh…” Taako blinked. How had he known? “I don’t know, you just seemed like a xe…?”
They were saved from the awkward silence when a dwarf walked into the tavern and started shouting about the Rockseeker job. The rest of the day was a complete rollercoaster, and by the time it was over Magnus had forgotten about the whole thing. Or at least, xe was too tired to bring it up again, and Taako was grateful either way.
Because he couldn’t explain it either. He hadn’t even thought about it until Magnus brought it up, because it just felt… right.
Almost as if he knew xem.